Not gonna lie, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a long time.

Revelations, Part One

Alya's brain froze with numbness. She must be seeing things. Surely this was some sort of sick joke. It didn't seem possible that her best friend was also a famous superhero and the subject of her blog. Marinette was a complete klutz and a nervous wreck, while Ladybug was cool, calm, graceful and confident. It also didn't seem possible that Adrien was Cat Noir. Adrien was shy and quiet, whereas Cat Noir was, well, in a word, wild.

Although, the more she thought about it, the more it was starting to make sense. This would explain why Marinette arrived to school late almost every day. This would also explain why Marinette and Ladybug were never around at the same time or place. What she failed to comprehend, however, was why her best friend never bothered confiding in her about her secret.

And judging by the looks of the other captives, she was not alone in her thoughts. Indeed, no one appeared more hurt and scandalized than Chloe, who now had to come to grips with the fact that the girl whose guts she hated dearly was also the same girl who she idolized and worshiped. Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng looked at each other, clearly also wondering why their daughter never bothered to confide in them as well. The only person who didn't appear affected by this revelation was Gabriel, who tilted his head down in sorrow.

Hawk Moth looked at his newfound treasures, then at his new kwami servants. He could hardly believe that after so many months of failure, he had the two most powerful Miraculouses in the world literally in the palms of his hands. He put on the Cat Ring, and instantly, a green aura glowed around Plagg, who bowed his head down in submission.

"Stop!" Adrien cried out desperately. "You'll hurt him!"

Hawk Moth turned to the boy, an amused smile contorting his face. "I believe that as his new owner, I can do whatever I want with him now," he coldly chuckled. "Isn't that right, son?"

Adrien paused. What did Hawk Moth mean? He looked at Marinette, who was now crumpled up on the floor in exhaustion. If Marinette was Ladybug, then that means . . .

I've been crushing on Marinette, and I didn't even know it! he thought. The only way that this can be more awkward is if she had a crush on me.

"Ludo, Buff Toad," Hawk Moth's voice interrupted his thoughts. "The captives can join the boy and the mayor in the dungeons."

"You captured my father!?" Chloe shrieked, hardly believing it. "When I get out of here I will-"

"-join him in serving the two of us," Ludo finished, waving his wand at her. Instantly, Chloe's lips pressed down together, as if bound by powerful superglue. Chloe tried to open her mouth, but her face contorted into silent anger after she found out she was unable to do so. "You talk too much, girly."

"Indeed, she does," Hawk Moth agreed, still amused. "And I look forward to having a little discussion with you and your father. Isn't that right, Ludo?"

Ludo snickered. "You bet!" He waved his wand once more, and instantly, green shackles formed on all the captives' wrists, which were automatically forced behind their backs. Ludo levitated Adrien and the unconscious body of Marinette over to the prisoners. "MARCH!" he shouted. Not wanting to find out what else he was capable of, the prisoners reluctantly exited the room, single file, down to the dungeons, escorted by Buff Toad and the Butterfly.


Marco wriggled uncomfortably in the humungous spiderweb that Ludo had stuck him in. He bet that by now, Marinette and her friends would have been captured by now. He wondered whether Marinette already had her identity exposed. Beside him was a fairly tall man with gray hair and light blue eyes, who wore a dark gray dress jacket with three large buttons over a white dress shirt, a dark red tie, dark gray slacks and black shoes.

"I'm guessing he caught you too, huh?" Marco asked the man.

"How did you guess?" the man asked.

"He did say something about 'bringing the others in,'" Marco replied. "And I can only assume that you were one of the ones he was talking about."

The man opened his mouth to reply, but the door creaked open, followed by Marinette, Adrien, their classmates, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, and another man Marco had never seen before in his life enter, escorted by Ludo, the Butterfly and a large toad-like creature. As soon as all the prisoners went in, Ludo waved his wand and tossed all of them onto the spiderweb.

"Well," Adrien joked in an attempt to ease the tension, "I see we've gotten ourselves in a sticky situation."

None of them were laughing.

"Dude," Nino snapped, "now's not the time. Especially since you never bothered to tell any of us about your other life."

Adrien opened his mouth to defend himself, but then the door opened again, and Ludo came in, tossing Master Fu along with Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, onto the spiderweb with them, then left.

Just then, Marinette opened her eyes groggily, moaning softly.

"Where . . . where are we?" she asked. Alya turned her head around to face her.

"I think the answer should be obvious to you, Ladybug," she snapped, her voice echoing of hurt and disappointment. "Care to explain why you never bothered to tell any of us?"

"I . . . I don't know what you're talking about," Marinette lied. Marco sighed. If his hands had been free, he would have facepalmed right then and there.

"Don't kid us," Mylene shot back. "We were there when the bird creature revealed both of your identities. Now answer the question. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I . . . I . . . " Marinette turned to Marco, who only gave her a look that said quite plainly, See? What did I tell you? "I don't know, okay?"

"What don't you know?" Alya's eyes started to tear up. "You're supposed to be my best friend! You're supposed to confide everything to me! Why didn't you tell me about your superhero double life? I feel like you've kicked me around and ripped my heart out!"

"Alya, no, I'd never do something like that!" Marinette protested desperately. "That's something Chloe would do!"

"Look who's talking," Chloe snapped. "At least I let everyone know exactly what I thought about them. You, on the other hand, have been lying to all of us for who knows how long! And on top of that, since I'm Ladybug's biggest fan, that means I'm . . . your biggest fan! Ugh!" She grimaced in disgust.

"Hate to say it, but she's not wrong there," Juleka agreed in a tone of sadness and disappointment.

"Don't be silly! I was going to tell you eventually!" Marinette shot back.

"When?" Alya snapped. "When we weren't trapped in a spiderweb several floors below ground level while the man who corrupted us all now has the means to, and I quote, 'usher in a new age without Ladybug or Cat Noir'? Was that bird monster right? Were you and Adrien just using us all as a cover?"

Marinette froze. Alya had finally trapped her. There was no viable answer in sight.

"That's what I thought," Alya said.

"I couldn't agree more," said a cold voice. They turned their heads to see Hawk Moth standing in the entrance of the cell, accompanied by Ludo and his men, all with evil smiles on their faces. Hawk Moth looked, by comparison, far more relaxed than his fellows, flashing them an easygoing yet sinister smile.

"What do you want?" Marinette asked miserably. "Haven't you gloated enough?"

"Oh, I'm not here to gloat to you, I can assure you," Hawk Moth smiled. "In fact, I must say that I find quite impressive that you keep managing to beat me every time. But have you ever stopped to consider why they show up quite frequently?"

"Because of all those people experiencing negative emotions?" Marco snapped.

Hawk Moth chuckled. "Right you are, my boy. Of course, half of all the akuma attacks wouldn't have even happened if it weren't for her." He motioned toward Chloe, who stared back at him, confused.

"Me?" she asked.

"Yes." He turned to the man beside her. "I must say, Mr. Mayor, you've raised a fine specimen of human being right here." Motioning over to Chloe, he continued, "I wouldn't have had nearly as many people to corrupt if it weren't for her, and for that, I thank her." He gave her a mocking smile.

"It's impossible," Chloe scoffed in an affronted manner. "Everybody adores me."

"NO WE DON'T!" the rest of the students screamed. Chloe flinched at this sudden outburst.

"You've been making our lives miserable for as long as we remember!" Rose yelled, almost in tears.

"Agreed!" said Kim. "I still can't get over you humiliating me when I wanted to express my emotions for you and blackmailing me to get me to drop out of the student election!"

"Was making fun of my crush on Marinette really necessary?" Nathaniel chimed in.

"Or locking me in the bathroom to get me out of the way?" Juleka added.

"They all have a point, you know," Marinette shot at Chloe. "You're not going to see me making fun of Marco just for having a crush on me, or locking Juleka in the girls' room just to get closer to Adrien."

Chloe laughed, then turned to Marco. "You? Have a crush on Marinette? What do you see in her?"

"Apparently, everything he doesn't see in you," Ivan replied in the most deadpan manner possible. Max allowed himself to have a giggle.

"Your insignificant but accurate friends are correct," Hawk Moth smiled at Chloe. Ludo raised his wand, conjuring a long scroll out of nowhere, which Hawk Moth grabbed and began reading aloud. "February 14, 2016: The Dark Cupid attacks."

Ludo and his men laughed insanely, the chamber echoing with their jeering. Chloe was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. Perhaps it was the fact that her sins were now being read out loud to her, but she started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she may have been a bit too awful to her fellow students.

"September 10, 2016," Hawk Moth continued. "The 'Kung Food' incident, at your father's hotel. It's a pity that Kung Food never got to complete that soup of his, because I would have loved to have an extra large helping of it." Beside him, Ludo licked his lips obscenely, almost as if he were relishing the idea of drinking the soup. Chloe gulped nervously.

"And finally, January 31 of that same year, the attack of the policeman dubbed 'Rogercop'," Hawk Moth flashed the mayor a satisfied smile. "Tell me, Mr. Mayor, how did it feel to surrender all your authority to the policeman you fired on such flimsy grounds?"

Mayor Bourgeois did not know what to say. He stared at Hawk Moth, evidently at a loss for what to say. Sabrina, however, seemed to pick up on what he was saying. "Wait a second," she started. "You mean to tell me that-"

"-your best friend is the reason your father got fired and akumatized," Ludo completed with a satisfied grin.

Sabrina turned furiously on Chloe. "I can't believe you would do something like this!"

Once again, Chloe had no words for what to say.

"I thought you were my best friend, Chloe! But Marinette was right! You really are just using me and giving me nothing in return! With friends like you, who needs enemies?"

At last, Chloe seemed to have found her voice.

"Now listen here," she snarled. "You never would have gotten anywhere if it weren't for me. You and Adrien are the only people I even considered worthy enough to be in my presence. I think the both of you ought to be grateful for that. I'm sure at least Adrikins can vouch for me."

But by this point, Adrien had finally had enough.

"Stop right there, Chloe Bourgeois. For years I put up with your behavior because I was convinced that you would eventually change your ways. But sadly, I now see that is not the case. Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see a stuck-up, self-absorbed, conceited prick who cares about nobody but herself. You're not really my friend. You're just using me to make yourself look good. A true friend is honest, generous, loyal, kind, and always happy put a smile on someone's face when they are feeling down. Sadly, you fulfill none of those requirements. And you think you can excuse yourself by saying that your father is the mayor of Paris? Well, get a load of this: your father can't stay in office forever, so sooner or later, you will have to learn what life is like at the bottom of the food chain. I really had high hopes for you, but you've let me down, so consider. Our. Friendship. OVER!"

Chloe stared back at him, stunned. She didn't know what to say. She felt as though she had been pierced through the heart with a dagger.

Adrien stared at her, silently fuming. This girl had pushed him far enough, and for once, she was in no position to tell him what to do. And he was certain that Sabrina now felt the same way.

Hawk Moth smiled. "Well, in that case, I'll leave you to it then. My work here is done. When next we all meet, Marinette and Adrien will be no more, and the rest of you will be my servants forever." He beckoned Ludo and his men forward. "Come, Ludo." They disappeared up the stairs, until the sound of their footsteps disappeared.

"Now what are we going to do?" Marco asked, more nervously than before. Their straits could not have been more dire. Not only was his best friend now an akuma, but the man who transformed her was now poised to take over the world. He turned to Master Fu. "I don't suppose you know how we can get out of this?"

Master Fu sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, no. I knew for a long time that Hawk Moth would eventually get his hands on Marinette and Adrien's Miraculouses, but I never could have foreseen him teaming up with a more powerful ally, or that he would eventually corrupt your best friend."

"Wait a second," Adrien interrupted. "You mean that the butterfly-winged monster out there . . . is Star?"

"Unfortunately," Marco sighed.

"I'm sorry, man," was all Adrien could manage to say.

"Thanks, Adrien, but I think this is all my fault," Marco said sadly. "I kinda made her jealous of me and Marinette without meaning to." And so he explained how she had caught him kissing Marinette in the park earlier and how he felt that may have led to her becoming vulnerable to akumatization.

"It wasn't your fault," Adrien assured him after he had finished explaining. "We'll find a way to restore her to normal. If anything, I would like to know why that monster out there keeps referring to me as his son."

Gabriel sighed. "I'm afraid that's where I have to come in." He faced Adrien sadly. "I hoped that it wouldn't have to come to this, but with everything that's going on right now, it is clear that all of you deserve to know everything. It's time I told you-all of you-what really happened."

Well . . . I don't know what to say.